The musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra have vowed to strike and set up pickets outside Severance Hall Monday morning barring a last-minute contract agreement with management.UPDATED: 8 a.m.

The musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra went on strike today.

As the final notes of Sunday's Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Severance Hall faded, the musicians were still resolved to strike today.

The musicians planned to commence strike demonstrations outside the hall this morning, before a mediated contract talk at noon.

Both events overlap with today's community open-house in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

The issues involved in the strike are numerous, including not only pay and benefits but also Cleveland's economy, the financial health of the orchestra, and the reputation and rank of the organization among its peers.

Executive director Gary Hanson has offered the musicians a three-year contract entailing a 5 percent pay cut in year one, restoration in year two, and a 2.5 percent increase in the third year. Included in his offer, he said, is a "modest increase" to the musicians' health-care contributions.

The trims, Hanson has said, stem from a need to reduce expenses in response to declining ticket sales, a hard-hit endowment, and a $2 million budget shortfall. Both he and music director Franz Welser-Most, along with the staff, have already taken cuts.

"We are asking the musicians to accept the principle of shared sacrifice that has been embraced throughout the organization," wrote Hanson in a letter to patrons.

But the musicians, clearly, see things quite differently. To accept the cuts Hanson has demanded, they say, would be to sacrifice again after a pay freeze in 2004, the loss of a defined-benefit pension in 2006, and continued operation with empty seats in the orchestra. As of Sunday, the musicians were still offering to accept an eight-month pay freeze.

"We conservatively estimate we have saved them millions," said bassoonist Jonathan Sherwin, a member of the orchestra's negotiating committee.

No less important for the artists is their belief that Hanson's plan would tarnish one of Northeast Ohio's greatest treasures by imperiling the orchestra's ability to attract and retain the best players and lowering its standing among the highest-paid symphonies in the nation. Before last weekend's subscription concerts, the musicians handed out pamphlets to the audience summarizing this position.

"The greatness of the orchestra could hang in the balance," said assistant principal clarinetist Daniel McKelway.

The public, for its part, has expressed a wide spectrum of opinions. Orchestra sympathizers point to the high price of talent, the considerable cost of instruments, and the intrinsic value of the orchestra to Northeast Ohio. Others say it's unrealistic to demand status quo in a recession and question how salary relates to quality.

A strike begun today would mark the fourth in the orchestra's history. Previously, the musicians have struck for seven days in 1967, 41 days in 1970, and two weeks in 1980.

Under immediate threat in the current strike is a new collaboration with Indiana University in Bloomington, where residency activities involving a handful of musicians are still scheduled to begin tonight. The full orchestra under Welser-Most is slated to perform there Wednesday, with violinist Leila Josefowicz.

This strike also jeopardizes upcoming activities associated with the long-term residency in Miami, where the orchestra is scheduled to begin a busy series of educational activities and concerts under Welser-Most on Friday.

The next regularly scheduled subscription concert at Severance Hall is Feb. 4.